You can gamble, but the smart money says you'll spend much of your time away from the tables. In this fun-zone environment, there's no shortage of attractions and amusements.

In other words, this ain't your daddy's Vegas.

It's a sprawling, 1-year-old, $279 million complex that defies a previous generation's notion of a gamblers' haven. In fact, Seminole Hard Rock has more in common with a certain institution in Central Florida than it does with the casinos of yesteryear.

"It's like you're in one of the Disney parks," says Jose Sanchez, a Seminole Hard Rock regular from Miami.

And though Seminole Hard Rock officials don't make reference to the Mouse, they make it clear they're about something more than betting.

The numbers alone tell the story. The hotel part of the complex has 500 rooms, three restaurants (including the Council Oak and a Hard Rock Cafe), a 4.5-acre pool area and a 22,000-square-foot European-style spa. There's a 130,000-square-foot casino with 2,100 slot machines and 48 poker tables.

The adjoining Seminole Paradise adds 16 restaurants, 10 nightclubs and several shops to the mix. There's even a Seminole museum.

South Floridians have embraced the concept, even though the casino doesn't offer traditional Vegas table games such as blackjack and craps. (Florida law prohibits it.) The hotel, with room rates that range from about $200 to $1,000, is usually fully booked on the weekends. And demand from daily visitors is so great that Seminole Hard Rock will begin building an additional 2,200-space garage this fall to accommodate the crowds.

What makes the concept more appealing -- at least to rock fans -- is that music remains central to Seminole Hard Rock's identity.

You can tell as much when you enter the hotel and a band is entertaining guests. Or when you stroll through the casino and see displays of rock memorabilia, including outfits worn by Elton John and Aerosmith's Steven Tyler.

But it's the opening of the 5,500-seat Hard Rock Live that truly positions the complex. Hard Rock is the midsized indoor concert hall the South Florida market has long lacked -- a place that's larger and more rock-friendly than the Kravis Center in West Palm Beach and Broward Center in Fort Lauderdale, but that's also smaller and more music-oriented than such sporting facilities as the Office Depot Center in Sunrise and the American Airlines Arena in Miami.

Seminole Hard Rock execs hope to book at least 125 shows annually, focusing on Sunday through Thursday nights when the hotel and casino business could use the boost.

Hard Rock Live promises to offer some of the best sight lines among South Florida concert facilities. And the acoustics?

"We're Hard Rock. We had to get our sound right," says Bernie Dillon, Seminole Hard Rock's vice president of entertainment.

Bet on entertainment

With the concert hall and other noncasino attractions, Seminole Hard Rock represents the convergence of trends within the gaming industry.

It's emblematic of the new wave of mega-casino hotels built in Vegas within the past two decades. Think the Bellagio with its famed fountain. (Remember Ocean's Eleven?).

Or better yet, think of newly opened Wynn Las Vegas -- named after owner and casino magnate Steve Wynn -- which has an art gallery featuring works by Picasso and other greats, a theater and a restaurant run by famed chef Daniel Boulud.

The idea is that gambling no longer has to be the sole focus and that establishments can aim to appeal to a much wider segment of the population. (And a trendier segment: hard-core gamblers tend to skew older.)

Whereas Vegas casinos once looked at the hotel, restaurant and entertainment side of the business as something of a loss leader, using it to draw in patrons to the tables and slots, now they increasingly view it as a potential profit center. And they're willing to spend millions to put their noncasino facilities on par with the best in plush resorts.

The result? Vegas visitors are now spending 60 percent of their money away from the casino -- a dramatic shift from a generation ago when that same take was only 40 percent, according to Bill Thompson, a professor of public administration at the University of Nevada at Las Vegas.

It's a point that those who design such facilities are quick to notice.

"Gaming is still the driver, but the ancillaries are now businesses in their own right," says David Gester of RTKL, a leading architecture-and-design firm that works with casinos.

But why didn't what happened in Vegas stay in Vegas? How did this phenomenon spread to South Florida?

That's where Indian gaming, the other major trend in the industry, comes into play.

In the past couple of decades, American Indian tribes have increasingly looked to gambling as a leading source of income. (Since the tribes function somewhat outside federal and state laws, they are freer to open casinos.) In Florida alone, Indian casinos took in $862 million in 2004, a 34 percent spike from the previous year, according to the St. Petersburg Times.

A big opportunity

The tribes also have recognized that putting up another humdrum casino won't suffice in this new era of casino royales.

That's why you'll find places such as the Foxwoods Resort Casino in Connecticut, which is planning a $700 million addition that will include a 5,000-seat theater, a hotel with 825 rooms and suites, four restaurants and a 50,000-square-foot casino.

The resort, which is owned by the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation, boasts a group of lodgings with a total of more than 1,400 rooms, plus six casinos and a nearby 18-hole golf course.

American Indian gaming "can be at the leading edge," says Foxwoods executive vice president Robert DeSalvio.

Hence, the Seminoles' partnership with Hard Rock, an Orlando-based chain whose business now incorporates casinos and restaurants throughout the world. And true to its name, the company boasts what's probably the largest collection of rock memorabilia in the world.

Not that the Seminoles, who also have a Hard Rock casino in Tampa and other casinos and bingo parlors throughout the state, have tried to make this all about gambling and entertainment. The resort blends in elements of Seminole life. The Seminoles say this is an honest way to make a living. They can no longer live off the land, so they look to other opportunities.

"We're not selling out. We're making it work," says Max Osceola, a Seminole councilman who represents the Hollywood area.

And that "work" now includes presenting a top-name rock or country artist.

It's such a mix that appeals to April Buber, a Boynton Beach resident who's a Seminole regular. She recently marked her birthday by staying overnight at the resort and attending a concert by Styx and REO Speedwagon at Hard Rock Live.

Seminole Hard Rock, she says, is "a little bit of everything all in one place."

That's also Mark Ehmer's assessment. He made his first trip to Seminole Hard Rock a couple of weeks ago, enjoying a night that included dinner at Seminole Paradise's Mexican restaurant (Tequila Ranch), drinks at the pool bar and an hour's worth of playing the slots. (The latter netted him about 50 bucks.) Ehmer, a Palm Beach Gardens resident, plans on coming back.